Year One: The Mauraders and the Forbidden Forest
by sakuramae
Summary: Well, it's their first year at Hogwarts! The Marauders James, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and their friends haven't even fully known each other, and they're already starting trouble! What events CAN bring the troublesome group together? RR!
1. First Years and Letters

~Usual disclaimers: I, sakuramae, do not own any characters that people have read about in JK Rowling's stories. She's the ultimate owner of Harry Potter and their characters. However, some new characters have been created, and it's safe to say that all of those characters are mine. Now, hope you like it!

Year One: The Mauraders and the Forbidden Forest

Chapter 1: First Years and Letters 

Voices rang out in the hall, as footsteps were heard coming from the end of the room. Three men emerged, one with greater seniority than the other two. The older man was bedecked with a pointed hat and was dressed in dark blue robes. A thoughtful look was found in his face. Something of a very important matter was in hand, and he was to decide whether to confirm it, or decline. With final deliberation, the man turned to his companions. "Gentlemen, I have decided to allow the young man into the school."

"Yes, but do bear in mind the perils of you doing so, Albus," replied one of the other two men with him, "You do run the risk of endangering every student in the grounds."

"I agree with that reason," the last man said, "And with that reason alone, Headmaster, the Ministry will not permit to such a being into Hogwarts. We've only come here to verify with you that you wouldn't let a werewolf in the premises."

The man named Albus smiled faintly, a slight glow in his light blue eyes. "Verify? I had thought to tell the Ministry that the precautions are to be of my responsibility. I have spoken to the child's mother, confirmed it with the Werewolf Protection Society, and prepared an area for young Mr. Lupin to hide out during his transformations. If you would follow me outside, kind sirs, I would gladly show you our protection against a werewolf."

They followed him outside the Hogwarts grounds, near a lush, dark green forest that loomed near the castle. Away from the forest was a lone tree, bigger than most, and more dangerous than a wild boar. In the wizarding world, a tree such as the one they set their eyes upon was named a Whomping Willow. The two gentlemen looked on, eyes wide and they muttered to themselves. "How did you come across a Whomping Willow? And what does it have to do with our current circumstance?"

"If you would observe, the Whomping Willow has been carefully planted under a passage towards an underground entrance," Albus pointed out, "It leads to a certain house in Hogsmeade. The Shrieking Shack has been locked up for a while now, and the presence of a werewolf there is surely going to be misinterpreted by the villagers. Most likely they will think it no more than a haunting. After all, gentlemen, we are taught to believe in strange things of occurrence. I will arrange for the child to be smuggled into the shack during the day of the full moon. I believe that young Mr. Lupin is to be trusted."

His companions glanced at each other, unsure of their next decision. Albus Dumbledore was a wise man, and he has been running Hogwarts for quite some time now. Maybe it was best for them to trust a werewolf into his custody. With a sigh, one of them nodded. "Okay, we will go to the Ministry and change our plans."

"Thank you, gentlemen," was the wizard's reply, "Now, if you will excuse me, I must be off. I am to arrange for a meeting with our new deputy headmistress. It is most imperative that I meet with her today, before we send letters out to the students. Good day, sirs."

"Good day to you, too, Headmaster."

***

"MUUUUM!!!!" a shrill scream split the air. "MUUUM!"

A woman in her thirties hurried to the living room, panting after bolting from her bedroom and running down the stairs. Her hair was disheveled, evidence that she had been asleep when she heard the call. The woman looked down at her daughter, and gave her a reassuring smile. "What's the matter, dear?"

The girl made a gesture that appeared as if she was going to wipe upcoming tears. For some reason, that routine always worked for her. "My dollie's gone! Lily must have took it! I want it back!"

"Oh, honey, how do you know your sister has your doll? Have you asked her?" the woman asked.

With a pretended sniff, the girl nodded, "I know she has it! She hid it from me!"

Her mother sighed and proceeded to head on upstairs in search of her other daughter. A door opened and a head full of red hair poked out in curiosity. The girl's green eyes stared steadily at her mother's. "Is something the matter? I heard Petunia screaming downstairs."

"Petunia seems to have lost her doll. Have you seen it? She claims that you've snatched it."

The girl tilted her head and nodded. "Well, Mum, snatched isn't nearly the word. I don't have it with me. But if you would like to know where it is, I glimpsed it on the roof."

Raised eyebrows met that incomprehensible remark. Laurel's older daughter was up to mischief again, and it was aggravating her. "Lily, what have I told you about this nonsense? Why did you throw it up at the roof again?"

"You don't understand, Mum," the girl hurriedly shook her head, a look of anxiety appearing in her eyes, "I didn't throw it up there. Petunia, she…oh, it's too hard to explain…"

"Well, you better explain that to your father, dear, I think he just arrived," Lily's mother replied as she heard the door open and a male voice called out her name.

Indeed, when mother and daughter bounded down the stairs to the living room, a middle-aged man was comforting the wailing Petunia. In his other hand was a familiar object that was said to have been on top of the roof. Green eyes looked through square spectacles. "Poor Petunia missed her toy. I wonder how it managed to transport itself to the top of the roof? Do you know, Lily?"

"Lily threw it up there! She's being mean to me!" Petunia cried out as she received her doll. The young girl hugged her precious object tightly, glaring at her older sister, who glared back.

"I told you before, I didn't throw the doll!" Lily argued back, enraged that she could be accused of such a thing. "I was in my room the whole time. The only awful thing I could have done was think of doing horrible things to you, but you're lucky I didn't!"

Husband and wife looked at each other. Lily's mother had those eyes that pleaded for her husband to stop the quarreling children. He bent down to Petunia. "Look, honey, why don't you run along? You've got your doll, haven't you? Lily promises not to take her away again, won't you, Lily?"

The red head nodded, looking down, a feeling of disappointment crept up. Why was she never believed? Laurel Evans sighed. If one daughter was happy, the other one wasn't. It was a never ending cycle of who to make unhappy one day and then the next. She was lucky that Lily had agreed to move to boarding school. It had been her idea, to meet girls like her and to have a nicer education. Money was no problem, since she herself traveled as a florist and a journalist, while her husband worked in his law firm. Their family was quite stable. Unless, of course, the two sisters were found in the same room. And even if they weren't, it was a danger to have one Evans girl to be found at least one room apart from each other. Trouble always seemed to brew with Lily and Petunia. Or was it only from Lily?

To tell the truth, somehow, Lily's parents thought that Lily had been the oddball in the family. She was now as small as her sister, with red hair and green eyes that her father had. And, for a 10-year-old, Lily held this great interest in mythological beings and such. Laurel wasn't sure whether to be glad that her daughter found interests, or concerned that she did nothing else but read. Even in class, Lily was a problem. Sure, the teachers loved her curiosity and avid learning skills, but every time the girl raised that slender hand of hers, it always resulted in one thing.

Groaning noises would come from the back, as well as a few other students who would snicker and mimic the poor girl. Lily's teachers would look around nervously and looked towards Lily.

"Miss Evans, if you please, your questions will be answered in a much later time. For now, I would have your utmost attention."

Lily, of course, felt that her questions were too important to be ignored. So the teachers had no choice but to sigh and listen carefully to the Evans girl. Lily's mother was always called on by the headmistress about her older daughter, with sayings that she should be bumped up one class higher than the rest. When she asked her daughter, the young girl merely shook her head and said that she was happy with people her age. It puzzled Laurel, since Lily barely had any close friends in her school.

The mother's thoughts were interrupted when her husband spoke. He was sorting out the mail, and he came across a strangely colored one. The lettering was in dark purple, and it contained no stamp. Phillip Evans frowned. "My, what could this be?"

He turned the letter over and saw that the letter was addressed to Lily, who had been looking curiously at the letter when it was first held up by her father. "For me? Where did that come from?"

"Odd…did you somehow apply for anything? The seal looks like it's from a school…"

"Lily, I thought we already established the fact that you're going to Violet Langford's School For Girls?"

"I did, Mum," was her answer, "I never applied for anything!"

Phillip handed the letter to Lily, and her parents watched her intently. She wondered who could be writing in a strange color of purple, and why they would be writing to her. Indeed, the contents of the letter were addressed to her. In the same purple lettering, it read: 

_Lily Evans,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Below is a list of items you will be needing for your first year of schooling in Hogwarts. Students are allowed to bring one hamster, toad, owl, OR cat to the school. We will be looking forward to seeing you on September the first._

_Cassandra Lobiesk,_

_Deputy Headmistress_

On a separate note, in small purple scribbling, the deputy headmistress wrote:

_Also to Lily Evans,_

_This might be a shock for you, Miss Evans, but the only proof we can possibly give you and your parents without making a deliberate fuss about it is the arrival of two owls. They will be carrying a number of things. One will be your ticket to the Hogwarts Express, which will be docking in King's Cross Station. The other objects will be some items that you might find strange to your Muggle perspectives, I suppose. Also a couple of other legal documents can be found, for I presume your father will be wanting more than small items as proof. Once again, I look forward to seeing you in school on September._

_Cassandra Lobiesk_

Lily read and re-read the two letters over and over again, until she could be sure of what its contents were. The girl finally handed it to her father, who perused it carefully. Lily and her mother watched as his face changed from calm curiosity to an anxious disbelief of whatever was being said. He shook his head. "It's probably a scam. A ticket will arrive by owl? And where in Europe do you suppose we can find a…magic wand? Inconceivable…"

Laurel was looking over her husband's shoulder, trying to read the letter, and she smiled, "Poor girl, it must be one of her colleagues, who asked their older siblings to write some kind of letter like this to Lily. It's not very convincing, though. My, I should be preparing dinner."

The woman went inside the kitchen and left Phillip pondering over the letter. Lily's face fell when she thought of the logic in her mother's words. What else could it be? There couldn't possibly be a Hogwarts, could there?

Suddenly, Lily's mother came hurriedly out of her kitchen. "Phillip! There are two owls perched on the kitchen window!"

Phillip and Lily ran to the kitchen, followed by a bewildered Laurel Evans, who couldn't believe her eyes. Sure enough, there were two barn owls on the window sill. Lily's father opened the window, and the owls dropped a few items in the sink. The envelope was addressed to Phillip and Laurel Evans, while a small bulky package was again addressed to Lily.

The red head opened the package to her eagerly, and she saw a few strange things. One was a small card with the face of Merlin at the front. Lily moved the card back and forth, noticing that the picture of Merlin was winking at her. The wizard was pulling at his long beard and waving with his other hand at his onlookers. Another thing that fell from the envelope was a small whistle that seemed to flutter with song once it was out of its enclosed space. Lily dropped the whistle in surprise, and still it continued to hum out a melody. Her father picked the item up and turned it over his fingers. "I don't think Lily's classmates would go through this much trouble renting two owls to deliver objects that are somewhat odd and probably expensive to buy in this country. Look here, Laurel, the documents are all legal."

"My goodness, then do you think…" Laurel turned to her green-eyed daughter with a bewildered look sketched on her face, "Do you suppose our daughter's a witch? But how is that possible?!"

"That's the same question I'm asking myself, dear," her husband replied, still leafing through the papers. He whistled. "Well, this Cassandra Lobiesk gave directions to enter this wizard marketplace called Diagon Alley. It's somewhere around London. The letter implores us to have a look around. What do you say, Lily?"

At once the red head beamed at her father. "Can we try, please? Anyway, you do have to buy supplies for boarding school. So…if this Diagon Alley doesn't work, we can always get my stuff for school right?"

Her mother chuckled. "Well, as long as your father is the one shopping with you for school supplies. Do you think I should go ahead and tell Petunia that her sister's going to be a student witch, or should we wait until it's a proven fact first?"

"Don't tell her until I see what is going on around here," was the father's say. "After all, why would you want to lead the poor girl on?"

Lily couldn't believe what was happening to her. Was there really a Diagon Alley in London, a place where magical people shopped for school supplies? Is she really going to be a witch-in-training? Only time will tell…

*** 

"Excited, Potter?" a blonde, blue eyed girl asked after leaping onto a boy her age, with rugged brown hair and brown eyes shining through his glasses. "Come on, we are going to be first years and all."

The boy fell over, dragging his friend down as well. He grabbed his glasses, placed them back on his face, and glared at his companion. "Honestly, Sarah, did you have to greet me like that? Why couldn't you say hello like everyone else does?"

His friend grinned, "Because it gets tiring trying to be like everyone else, doesn't it? Anyway, me dad says that I have a cousin our age that's going into Hogwarts, too. I've never seen her before, though. Have you?"

"How should I know? There are tons of wizards going into Hogwarts. And, you haven't mentioned her name either."

Sarah lightly punched him on the shoulder, adding another pain to his naturally bruised body. James winced but did not let his friend see. Instead of answering James' comment, Sarah spun around, disappearing into the corner, screaming, "I've gotta go, James! Me Dad's bringing me to Diagon Alley today to get me school supplies and the kind!"

Brown eyes glittered with amusement. "Okay, then! I'll see you in a week!"

"You bet!"

*** 

Green eyes gazed around with wonder at the sight that awaited her. Robed men and women with pointed hats bustled about, buying school supplies for a future witch or wizard. Certain creatures walked around the area as well; Lily could have sworn that she saw goblins carrying boxes into an ivory building. Diagon Alley was a wonder of wonders for Muggle-born Lily Evans. Even her father looked on in awe. "Well, the instructions said we should be heading towards Gringotts. So…Lily, where do you think this bank would be?"

"Do you see that white building over there?" a voice asked with a lovely French accent. "That would be Gringotts, monsieur."

Father and daughter turned around to see that a young girl and her mother were smiling at them. The mother held her hand out to Phillip Evans, blue eyes friendly. "I don't think I've seen you before around the wizarding world. Are you a Muggle parent, then?"

"Erm…" Phillip cleared his throat, taken aback. "I…don't believe I understand…"

"Oh, you must pardonnez-moi, monsieur," the woman chuckled, "A Muggle is the wizarding term for those who don't use magic. I'm to take it the pretty red head is your daughter?"

Phillip glowed at the compliment given by the woman and nodded. "Yes, she is. Thank you for informing us where Gringotts is, er…Miss…?"

"Belle," the woman said as Lily's father shook hands with her. She turned to her daughter. "Vite, Melanie."

The young girl beside her mother gave a small curtsey and ambled away, as the two raven-haired females walked into a store that seemed to say, "Ollivanders: Maker of Fine Wands."

They reached the white building, and Lily was overjoyed to see goblins buzzing about talking to the customers. Lily and her father approached one of the unoccupied goblins. "Excuse me, goblin sir, but my father has this letter from the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts about exchanging currency. Can you assist us?"

Curious eyes watched the two red heads carefully and shrugged. "Do you have any English money, then?"

Lily's father took his purse and held out a few hundred pound notes. The goblin took it and bowed to them. "I'll be back in a while, sir, and miss. It'll take a few minutes to sort this out."

Phillip looked around nervously, unsure if he quite belonged in the environment around him. He saw wizard mothers and fathers dragging their children around. Some older teens were also walking about making withdrawals from their parents' accounts to buy their school supplies. To his astonished ears, Phillip even caught on certain conversations.

"Mum's being harsh this year, Ernie. Said I couldn't go buy myself a Swiftstick for school…"

"What?! But if our Quidditch team doesn't have the best equipment, then we'll never have a chance against Ravenclaw!"

"Yeah, I heard they've got two new awesome Chasers…"

"And they've both got Nimbus 1000 broomsticks!"

Obviously, all this talk only further confused Lily's father. He didn't know what Swiftsticks were, or what Quidditch was, but he couldn't listen and observe any longer, as the goblin came back, carrying with him a small bag that seemed to jiggle with gold. The goblin handed the bag to Lily, who looked inside to find small gold, silver, and bronze nuggets. "There you are, sir. I believe this is your first time, so I've added a small note explaining the wizard currency. Don't worry, you'll catch on quickly."

As they left the building, Lily's father whispered, "Do we really look that obvious that we aren't from around here?"

"Dad, relax," Lily giggled, "This is certainly not a courtroom. Come on, let's go get my wand first!"

They entered a cluttered up shop, filled with boxes in shelves and such. A little man came scuttling out of the back. "May I help you?"

"We're here to buy a wand," Phillip told the man.

The wizard (for what else could the man be?) looked at the young girl through his spectacles. "Yes, yes, Lily Evans, I presume?"

Green eyes glowed with curiosity. "How did you know?"

"I have a knack, youngling," the man said, "You can call me Mr. Ollivanders, by the way. Now, come, let me measure you. Mr. Evans, this will take a while, so I do advise you to go on ahead and buy her books and other ingredients for her potions."

Phillip nodded and patted his daughter's head before setting out. Lily looked around curiously and picked a box out. "Unicorn hair…oh! I want this wand!"

Mr. Ollivanders shooed her away from the shelves and made her stand in the center of the room. He also grabbed the wand box from her and threw it out. "No, that's not for you."

Blowing dust from another box, one from the upper shelves, he opened it and took the wand out. "Cypress, 9 1/3 inches. Very sturdy. Go on, give it a small flick."

Lily did as she was told, but nothing happened, to her disappointment. Before she could glance at Mr. Ollivanders, the wand was taken from her and she was given another one. "How about this one? Mermaid scale and ashwind, calm combination."

Again, nothing happened. Instead of being frustrated, however, Mr. Ollivanders seemed cheerful. "My, my, we're getting picky today, aren't we? Wait right here, I'll find you the perfect wand from the back."

After a few moments, Mr. Ollivanders came out again, full of dust, and carrying a wand out triumphantly from his stash. He handed it to Lily. "This ought to work. Willow, 10 1/4 inches, swishy. I have a feeling you might like doing Charms."

"If you say so," Lily said nervously this time, hoping that something would happen. She closed her eyes, and felt the wand shake. When she opened her eyes, the wand was giving out sparks. Lily was overjoyed.

"Ah, I knew it!" Mr. Ollivanders piped up happily. "Very fitting for you, Miss Evans. That'll be 10 Galleons. We'll wait for your father to come back."

When Lily's father came back, his hands were full of packages for Lily. He called out for his daughter to help him, and she sauntered happily to him, taking a few boxes from him. "Dad, I've got a wand! It's 10 Galleons!"

Both Evanses moved on to another area of Diagon Alley. By the time they got home with all the strange packages and the remainder of the wizard money, there was no doubt in anybody's mind where Lily would be going to school that year. Laurel Evans broke the news to her younger daughter, Petunia, who didn't take it as well as they hoped she would. Petunia had stormed off, angered and disgusted at the fact that her sister would be strange and uncanny.

Lily's mother shook her head. "Well, I suppose she'll adapt to the idea in time. Now, I've got to call your boarding school, to tell them that you won't be going there at all. I can't believe it! Our daughter's a witch!"

~This is going to be a very slow progress, since I've got to re-edit each and every chapter up over and over again until I could see it as presentable. Hopefully someone found this chapter good, and I'll try my utmost to get the next ones in as soon as possible. But please, bear with me.


	2. Acquaintances and Sorting

**Chapter 2: Acquaintances and Sorting**

King's Cross Station was filled with people buzzing about in different directions. The active movement around the area caused Sirius Black to look around, dizzy and confused. It took him a while to find the right directions to his train. Why didn't his mother bring him over to Platform 9 3/4 herself? Sirius shrugged. He was told beforehand where and how to get there anyway. The boy grumbled to himself concerning his luggage and how all the Muggles seemed to be staring strangely at him.

Somewhere around the corner he heard the sound of a girl asking for Platform 9 3/4. Sirius, groaning and thinking that the girl must have been left as well, turned around to see who it was. A few meters in front of him was a girl with red hair tied in two braids. He saw her frown when the officer told her that she was being foolish in asking for such a platform.

"But, sir," was her urgent voice, "The ticket says—"

"That darn ticket, little girl, is misleading you! Now, be off!"

Put out, the girl stomped away, dragging her cart of things to bring to Hogwarts. She heard someone call to her. "Hey, you, red head girl!"

Green eyes looked at Sirius questioningly, and the girl pointed to herself. Sirius rolled his eyes and nodded, beckoning to her. "Yes, I'm talking to you! Get over here!"

Finally, the girl came over, her frown deeper than before. "Why didn't you just go over to where I was? It would have been a lot easier."

"Nice to meet you, too," Sirius replied, "The name's Sirius Black. And you are?"

"Lily Evans," the girl answered, still a bit hostile. "Why did you call me over?"

Sirius pointed towards Platforms nine and ten. "I suppose you wanted to know where Platform 9 3/4 would be found. Come on, I'm heading there myself."

In the place of coldness, Lily smiled with excitement. "So, you're a wizard, too!"

"SHH!" the boy said, covering her mouth, and dragging her along with his cart. "Not too loud! Muggles will hear you!"

They stopped next to a pillar in between the ninth and tenth platform. The black haired boy pointed to it. "We go through that. Make sure not many people see you, though. It could cause a riot around here. Go on ahead. I'll follow."

She looked at him, her expression filled with disbelief. "You want me to walk into a wall? Why don't you go ahead?"

Sirius turned to her and gave her a skeptical look. This was, of course, his first time as well, and he had no idea if the platform actually worked the way he said it would… "Are you kidding me? You go first!"

"Why don't we both go in at the same moment?" Lily asked crossly. "Look, we're wasting our time, the train is about to leave soon and I wouldn't know how to get to Hogwarts any other way."

Her "companion" gathered up his courage. He blinked twice and shrugged. "Fine, on the count of three, we ram into the wall."

Lily giggled. "What happened to making sure the Muggles don't see us?"

"Oh well, forget them," the boy said, and he got ready to push the cart into rough concrete. "Ready…one…two…"

Lily held her breath. Now was the time. When the count of "THREE!" was heard, she quickly walked to the solid pillar and rammed herself into brick and cement. Their hasty entering caused a number of things to happen. One had been the fact that they managed to make it into the platform. Sirius controlled himself and stopped in time without further collision. However, for the girl with him, she slammed into another wizard, who had been moving towards the train. Sirius laughed as he helped the bewildered Lily to her feet.

The young girl quickly dusted herself, turning as red as a beet. She apologized over and over for her rash behavior, but the young student brushed it off, mumbling to himself. "That's alright. I'm fine, thank you."

"Here, let me help you with those," Lily said, still embarrassed.

"No, that's okay…"

Sirius saw the conductor blow his whistle and warn the people in the platform that the train was leaving. The young boy also watched as students filed past, hurrying their way into the train. He looked on and finally cleared his throat. "Maybe we should all be heading towards the train now? I don't know, but it seems to me that hardly any student is left outside anymore…"

The boy grew alarmed and pulled his cart towards the train's entrance. Lily glared at Sirius and followed suite. Sirius scratched his head. "What did I do? All I said was that the train was leaving…"

By the time they got in, most of the compartments were already full. Older students closed the doors when they saw first years coming. It became obvious that Sirius and his two companions weren't welcome as he poked his head in one of the compartments, occupied by two witches. One of them glared and placed her bag on the empty seat beside her. Sirius frowned. There had to be a few first years around here, right?

*** 

"The train's leaving," Sarah said, turning to her friend, who was fumbling with a tiny golden object encased in plastic. Silvery wings protruded from the sides, flapping wildly.

James gave a slight nod before going back to what he was doing. He grumbled when he tried to force the golden object into submission. "Dang Snitch…it won't go inside…"

A head full of red hair popped inside their compartment. "Um…hello, do you have any space for three more people?"

The blonde girl smiled cheerfully at them and moved her stuff to make room. "Sure, why not? I'm Sarah Morran, by the way."

From outside, Sarah heard the slight whisper of, "Not fair! Her first try, and she's managed to get us a seat in this train!"

"I'm Lily Evans," the girl with green eyes said, also introducing her two companions, "That's Sirius and Peter with me."

Sarah was looking at her friend, who didn't seem to notice that three students came in to join them. His friend nudged him on the shoulder, resulting in his crying out, "Ow! Sarah, what was that for?!"

James glared at his friend, brown eyes glittering through his glasses. He did finally notice the three new people in his compartment and blinked. "Oh! Hey, I'm James Potter. I suppose you've already met my friend, Sarah."

Of course, after giving them a small greeting, the boy went back to his business, still trying to force the golden object into his bag. Lily fell into deep conversation with Sarah, who she found out was a half-Muggle. Her father neglected to tell her she was a witch until she turned ten, when the letter arrived as basic confirmation. Boy, was her poor mother completely surprised! Sarah's mum wouldn't talk to her father until he had conjured their plot of land into a blooming garden of azaleas and carnations, her favorite flowers. And, well, as Sarah mentioned to Lily, here she is. "Not to mention, I had no idea me friend James here was a wizard, too! It seemed me Dad's made sure I met someone to go to school with."

Sirius and Peter, the young boy who had bumped into Lily outside of the Hogwarts Express, were huddled near James, whispering to him. Lily glanced over and saw that the object James was handling moved about with excitement. She had never seen such a thing. So, the curious Muggle-born that she was, she came closer. "Hey, what is that?"

Sirius stared at her, amazed at her magical ignorance. "It's a Snitch. The most important object in Quidditch, a wizard game. I'll show you more about it when the actual season starts in school."

"I thought you couldn't try out for Quidditch until your second year," Peter pointed out.

James nodded, "Yeah, but hey, just because I can't try out doesn't mean I can't have my own Snitch. Call it a good luck charm, I suppose."

An elder witch opened the compartment, pushing a tray of food in front of her. "Anything off the racks, children?"

Sarah's friend tilted his head. "Any candy, Sarah? I recommend the chocolate frogs. If you don't mind, I'd like the card inside."

Taking his suggestion, Sarah bought some chocolate frogs while Lily followed Sirius' example in purchasing a small bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. A few moments later, the compartment opened up again, and a black haired student came in. He raised his eyebrow at the company. "If you don't mind, I do suggest that everyone gets dressed soon. The train will be reaching its destination in a matter of minutes."

Before leaving, the student turned to them and added, "Oh, by the way, I suggest you clean up. You're all a mess."

"What nerve," Sarah mumbled after the student closed the compartment. "Who does he think he is?"

Sirius frowned. "Probably one of those rich pureblood wizards."

James looked up, questioningly. What was bad in being pureblood? Instead of arguing back, he ignored the comment and decided to put his robes on. Besides, it didn't take long for the train to stop. The students filed out. Lily and the others heard a man screaming about for the first years. "Firs' years over here!"

They saw a towering man leading the first year students over to the lake. The group was split into two boats as they headed towards Hogwarts castle. To Lily's opinion, the castle glowed with magical aura. The lake was reflecting its luminescence. Most of the wizards, whether they be Muggle-born or not, looked up at the castle in awe. Lily read about the castle in one of her books, but seeing it in reality was even more breathtaking. She couldn't believe her eyes.

The group was led inside the castle, where a young witch dressed in dark purple stood waiting. The witch was very young, and it surprised Lily that someone as young as her would be a Head witch. "If you would please form two lines, we could start towards the Great Hall. Follow me…"

Lily looked around the lines of the first years. In the corner of her eye she glimpsed the same girl whose mother helped her around Diagon Alley. She waved to the girl, and the surprised student waved back, smiling. The young witch led them through long wooden tables filled with Hogwarts students of all ages, talking about excitedly. The red head looked at the ceiling, remembering that the ceilings were bewitched. True enough, when she did look up, she saw not the ceiling but the night sky. To her, Hogwarts was beautiful, and it took her a while to realize that candles were floating about on the sides. Many of the first years muttered and pointed at the different wonders of the Great Hall.

When they made it into the front of the hall, the young witch headed into another room, returning with a stool and an old hat. She placed the hat on the stool, and the room was pervaded into silence. The older students wanted to see which student will be joining their houses. After a few moments of silence, the hat moved and began to sing, to Lily's astonishment.

_"Sometimes you think I'm worthless,  
Sometimes you think I'm neat,   
Dear, I wish to tell you that   
Our meeting is such a treat! _

_Does a sorting hat need be pretty?   
Should it gleam and trend in fashion?   
No, but at least my words can give   
More than one reaction. _

_Four Houses I'm to sort you in,   
Which one will you end up to be?   
For certainly no other hat   
Can tell you this but me. _

_Are you brave? Are you noble?   
Are you everything above?   
Then Gryffindor's the place for you,   
To share your warmth and love. _

_Are you wise? Intelligent? Clever?   
Do you think your wits are sharp?   
Ravenclaw house you do belong,   
For no house can be so smart. _

_Loyal? True? Faithful, too?   
Put friends and family first?   
I will scream out Hufflepuff!   
Kindness is what they thirst. _

_If you don't belong among those three,   
Then power is indeed what you seek,   
In ambitious Slytherin I say to you,   
Not for the gentle, kind, and meek. _

_In Ravenclaw? In Slytherin?   
In Gryffindor? In Hufflepuff?   
Good luck to you as you put me on,   
I think I've said enough."_

The older students clapped after the hat became silent once more. The witch, who was now holding a list of the students' names, began to call each one up to try the sorting hat on. "Abessy, Elessa!"

A pale girl with light brown hair stepped up nervously. She sat on the stool and the sorting hat was placed on her head. Silence…and then… "RAVENCLAW!"

The table with blue robes clapped heartily for their new member. Again, there was silence. The young woman continued to call out names of the new students. "Belle, Melanie!"

Lily saw the girl she waved at stand up. The red head noticed that her name brought a few murmurs from the students. Peter drew in near her and whispered, "Her parents are one of the richest wizards around. No doubt she'll probably end up in Ravenclaw. All of her family's been placed there."

Sirius frowned at the small piece of information. He wasn't very fond of rich folk.

"GRYFFINDOR!" was the unexpected reply. The black haired girl froze on the stool, shocked at this strange turn of events. However, the witch next to her helped her out of the seat, and the girl was placed on the Gryffindor table. Instead of being completely horrified, Melanie merely sighed and remained silent, awaiting the results of the rest of the sorting.

"Black, Sirius!"

Sirius gulped down his nerves and walked slowly up at the chair. As the hat reached him it immediately yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

He clambered up and walked quickly towards the Gryffindor table, which applauded yet again.

"Donovan, Samantha!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Donovan, Samuel!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Elsord, Michael!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The sorting hat finally reached "Evans, Lily," and the red head took a deep breath. The girl sat down on the stool and she felt the black hat slide on top of her head. Lily jumped a bit as she heard the hat talking inside of her head. "Yes…hmm…a brave mind…but intelligent, too…where should I put you? Ah…I know! GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily bounded happily and she saw Sirius scowl. He had thought to get rid of her at this point. "Lupin, Remus!"

A thin, pale boy walked up, uncertainty in his eyes. He glanced at a man sitting at the center of the high table, where all the teachers seem to be gathered. The wizard nodded at him encouragingly. As he sat down, the sorting hat was placed on top of his head. The hat slid down his head and engulfed him inside. He was so small.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Morran, Sarah!" the blonde skipped up to the sorting hat, happily awaiting the house she was going to be placed in. "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Patil, Presea!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Pettigrew, Peter!" and "Potter, James!" were both answered with the word "GRYFFINDOR!" The black haired boy that spoke to Lily and the people in her compartment stepped up when his name was called ("Snape, Severus!"). He smiled knowingly as the sorting hat exclaimed, "SLYTHERIN!"

A few more students were sorted and distributed into the houses, and finally, the sorting was over. The wizard at the center chair stood up and requested for everyone to stay seated as he gave a few announcements. He looked at the students, shades of blue twinkling through his half-moon spectacles. "Welcome, first years! Welcome! Glad to see you here. As for all of you, I have some very important announcements to make."

"As always, in Hogwarts tradition, we will be having our Quidditch match this year. First years, of course, will not be able to try out, as they are not allowed a broom just yet. However, everyone is welcome to witness the games all season."

Lily bent over to Sirius and whispered, "Who's the wizard?"

Sirius nodded towards him, "That's Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. They say he's really powerful."

Professor Dumbledore went on speaking. "I remind you again, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all Hogwarts students, regardless of rank. I mean it…everyone."

At this point, he gave a small glance at the Ravenclaw table. Afterwards, he smiled, turning his head to face the witch that had led Lily and the rest of the first years into the Great Hall. "And, I would like to introduce you all to a few new teachers. Professor Cassandra Lobiesk is our new Deputy Headmistress. And, for you Ravenclaws, she will be your Head of House, seeing that Professor Lanceta will no longer be joining us this year. For everyone else, Professor Lobiesk will be your Charms teacher, so know her well."

The woman nodded, a slight hint of a blush creeping up her cheeks. James was amazed. She couldn't be older than 20, and she was already elected as a high ranking official in the school. After a few claps and an occasional whistle of admiration from the male population, Dumbledore went on, "Also, please welcome your new Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor! Minerva, stand up, please, so that we can see you."

Another young woman dressed in green stood up. Black hair was pulled up in a bun, and square spectacles framed the face. Also to Lily's eyes, the teacher was no younger than four and twenty. A couple of older students from different tables whistled and clapped again, acknowledging the professor as they did the Head of Ravenclaw. Professor Dumbledore chuckled, "That's Professor McGonagall, so please respect her and I'm sure she will be pleasant in return."

To finish, he turned to the students, seriousness in tone, "Lastly, I would like to tell you that we have added a new structure to our grounds. Near the Forbidden Forest there is a large tree. That is our Whomping Willow. Whoever should choose to get too close will face the consequence of death by extreme torture. Now! Please, let's go on to the feast! Enjoy!"

A variety of food appeared on the table, pleasing to the eye and pleasurable to the tongue. The whole of Hogwarts feasted that night. It didn't take long until everyone began to get bloated. However, Sirius and James were still helping themselves on mashed potatoes and turkey. Sarah eyed them with wonder. "Even after all you've eaten, you're still hungry?"

"Why not?" Sirius replied gulping down some of his food. "I'm eleven and growing, you know."

Finally, Dumbledore stood up again. "Prefects! Please show the first years to their common rooms!"

An auburn haired student with a prefect badge beckoned for the first years to follow him. They went up a few staircases and reached the Gryffindor tower. A picture of a lady in pink was facing them, and the prefect merely spoke "Silen Quietus" to open up the common room.

The females and males were separated into different dormitories. Lily, Sarah, and the girl Melanie managed to get into the same room, along with three other girls. And fortunately, Peter, Sirius, and James stuck together as well. Three other boys were in the room, among them was the pale boy named Remus. He picked the last bed in the corner and started to unpack. He was a bit nervous, and he was hardly sure what to expect. Will anyone be friendly to him? Is anyone smart enough to know his secret?

Remus Lupin was a puzzle to most, but James saw him as a particularly shy boy. The young Potter brought it amongst himself to befriend Remus and introduce him to anyone he knew. But…he'd have to wait until the next morning. He was so tired…


	3. Classes

Chapter 3: Classes 

            Remus stepped into a dark, cold, damp dungeon and shivered.  What a way to start a new morning.  Students were already filing in, eyes browsing about with anxiety and intrigue.  Slowly, the young boy moved to find himself a suitable table, before anyone else can push him into one he didn't want.  He seated himself in the corner, where the shadows would cover him from view.

Rapid whispers were hushed when a tall figure swooped into the dungeon and headed to the front.  The creature, apparently the professor of the class, turned his eyes to the group, watching them carefully.  After the silence went on until who knew when, the professor surprised a couple of students by screaming out the obvious commands, "Take your seats!  Come now, hurry!  I will not have time wasted in this class."

Students, it seemed, were already seated comfortably, clustered in the tables.  Some giggled and whispered to each other.  Already many had made friends.  Remus found that his partner in the corner was a raven haired student with bright blue eyes.  He seemed to recognize her, but he couldn't put his finger on why it was so.  When she had given Remus a small smile, he was reassured that not everybody will be unfriendly to him, no matter how small or how helpless he was.  This caused him to smile back.

The professor waited again until the dungeon pervaded into silence, the smallest drop of water in the back dungeons heard echoing into the room.  He finally cleared his throat. "I'm to take it that this is Gryffindor house?  This is pretty pathetic, considering that none of you were quick enough to have your books out without my saying so.  Where did your learning go?  Come, come!  I want quills and books out!"

Rummaging was heard throughout the room, as each student plucked from their bags a copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Concoctions_, written by Esmerelda Ensalada.  At this point, Remus was getting used to the momentary interruptions towards the eerie silence.  To him, he'd rather hear something else than the water drops.  His wish was granted when the professor spoke before everyone else can get back to silence.

"This is not a class to be taken lightly!  I will have you work hard at it, and your outcomes will be tested and graded as large projects.  For you familiar with the Muggle world, this class would be similar to Muggle chemistry, an experimental science.  Don't worry, the theory behind potions and such are quite different and easier for you 10 and 11-year-olds to understand.  You will learn ingredients, know how to combine them, and concoct potions potent or helpful."

The professor's eyes wavered from one person to another, making the students squirm and turn away uncomfortably.  A young boy stifled his yawn, almost awarding himself a detention at the beginning of his first year.

"You may call me Professor Dunbar.  If you are in absolute need to search me out, I am Head of Slytherin.  Learn my name and remember it well.  Woe to those who choose to call me other than the name I give to you."

A small giggle escaped from the side, where some girls had whispered to each other.  The black haired girl next to Remus also grinned softly at the professor's last comment.  Professor Dunbar frowned and went to his desk. "Enough giggling there, girls.  Everyone, I want you to turn to page…"

And the class finally started…

***

            Remus came out of the dungeons, getting color back in his pale face.  It almost seemed that he had spent a whole day down at the bottom of Hogwarts castle, by how his complexion looked.  He felt a small tap at his shoulder, and he turned.

            "Hello," the dark haired girl said to him, smiling.  It was the same girl who sat at his table. "I don't think you enjoyed much of Professor Dunbar's lecture today."

            "The dungeons are pretty depressing," he answered back, "It's not really the class, just the area."

            "I know what you mean," she replied, holding up her hand, "Melanie Belle."

            "I'm—"

            He was interrupted, when a boy with glasses rushed over and almost catapulted into Melanie. "Excuse me!  Hi, I'm James Potter.  Nice to meet you.  I believe you're in my dorm room?  You see, we roomies should stick together, don't you think?  That was something my Mum told me to do before she dropped me off at the station."

            Another boy walked up, scowling, "Yeah, this is the _only_ reason as to why I am standing here.  This is definitely not my choice to get dragged around.  What kind of social freedom is this anyway?"

            The young girl that had been pushed aside slinked out of the conversation, apparently left out.  Though she felt no insult, it seemed odd that she should be pushed out of the way like that.  Well, chivalry was completely out the window, it seems.  Without further ado, the girl politely told them that she needed to head on up to the next class.

            "Honestly, Sirius," James said to him, frowning. "You make me look like a warden, keeping you prisoner.  Lighten up, will you?"

            Sirius gave him another menacing glare before looking back at Remus. "I'm guessing you met 'Miss Rich Girl.'  What's her name?"

            "Melanie Belle," a voice told them from behind.  It was that pudgy boy from before. "Her dad is head of the Aurors in France.  That's where she gets all her money from."

            Remus looked curiously at the boy. "You know a lot about her, don't you?"

            The boy nodded. "That's because I've kept in close touch with the wizarding world.  By the way, the name's Peter."

            "Nice to meet you."

            They headed on to their next class, anticipating something exciting, since it would be held outside.  Their next professor seemed pretty…interesting. They found her bustling about, carrying fertilizer, whistling happily.  After a few moments, the witch realized her students were gazing at her curiously, as she was cheerfully pouring fertilizer and chatting among her precious plants.

A little figure walked about at her side, brown in color, with a pointed nose and an elven hat.  Timid, it kept its head down and circled around the students to get to his mistress.  When it reached the middle, though, it looked up, and stared at Lily.  The girl smiled at it, but the creature looked back down and hurriedly walked straight.  It bumped into the professor, and she shook her head. "Go on, Starbucks, I can handle everything from here."

            The brown creature dropped everything it was holding and ran out into its burrow.  James looked at his teacher with skepticism.  What an odd creature!  The professor noticed his stare and she smiled. "That's my brownie, what some Muggles would call a 'smurf.'  But that's not why you're here, isn't it?  I think you're here to learn about plants!  But first…get over there and help me by carrying those pots towards the table, and then we can start!  After all, what is class without work, eh?"

            By the time lunch arrived, Sirius had slumped onto the Gryffindor table. "Two classes, and I'm already exhausted!  Tell me that's it for today…"

            "Relax, we only have three more classes left," Peter said from behind, "Besides, you're only tired because our whole Herbology lesson consisted of helping Professor Shroommush with rearranging her greenhouse."

            Sirius cringed at the small remembrance of the large pots he handled.  Sarah, who had also joined the table, giggled. "Really, we didn't get too much homework for the first day.  I don't know what you're complaining about."

            "Why do I have the curse of being in Gryffindor?  Why can't we all switch classes so I don't have to be stuck with Potter, Evans, or Belle?" the boy whined.

            "Hey, watch what you're saying about me," James said, grinning, "Am I THAT annoying?"

            "You think this is a joke, do you?"

            James scratched his head, pretending to be ignorant, "Do I think what is a joke?"

            "Aw…forget it…" Sirius snapped, his head still placed on top of the table. "I have no will to argue at the moment."

            Sarah was looking further down the table, trying to see if she could spot her cousin.  She did see Lily, who was seated with two other students that didn't seem familiar to her.  Smiling, the blonde suggested that they go sit with Lily and the others.  Another complaint came from Sirius. "Oh, no…James here is bad enough as is, and now you want to add 'Red and Rich'?  Count me out."

            The boy grumbled and complained as three students pulled and pushed him over to 'Red and Rich'.  Sarah smiled at the seated Gryffindors. "Do you mind?"

            "Erm…I think Sirius would prefer not sitting here, don't you think?" Lily asked politely, amused at the reluctant black-haired boy. "Look how he squirms!"

            Peter glared at Sirius, while James patted him on the back, feigning a look of pity. "Ah…poor Sirius, he has had such a tough time today…what with 9 rolls of parchment to complete, and our rough handling of him as we walked towards this blessed table…"

            "Hey!  I'm not that wimpy!  And we did not have to do 9 rolls of parchment!" Sirius turned to one of Lily's friends, who he knew as Remus, unsure, "Did we?"

            Remus shook with laughter at the skeptical face that was given him. "No, no, we only have 12 for Herbology."

            "WHAT?!"

            The whole table doubled up in laughter.  Sirius was flustered. "Oy!  Stop bloody kidding me!"

            Lily shook her head, "If you really want to know, the homework asked for half a role of parchment.  If you listened, maybe you wouldn't have been so gullible."

            "Look, it's not my fault I dozed off!" Sirius retorted. "Class was so incredibly exciting with the eccentric teacher demanding that we run around with plants all period!"

            Nobody heeded him as the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over.  Lily excused herself and ran out of the hall, followed by Melanie, who also hurried.  Remus shook his head with disbelief. "First day here, and they're dashing off to do homework at their break.  Can you believe that?"

***

            Lily was amazed at how large the library was.  Students from first year to seventh year were walking around, some absorbed in books, and others just trying to find a place to get away from nosy professors.  The librarian, a wizard who demanded silence, was not too keen on keeping his rules himself.  He was humming at his desk, unawares that some students were staring at him with strange looks.  Somewhere at a table was Melanie, conversing with an older blue-robed student.  They seemed absorbed in their conversation, so she decided that leaving them be was the best thing at the moment.

            Instead, she browsed around.  She had, after all, only an hour until the next class.  The young girl decided that she'd spend all her breaks in the library.  So many books to read…she didn't know where to start…

            "Looking for something?" a voice asked her.  Lily turned around and saw the librarian. "Maybe something interesting to read, perhaps?"

            "Erm…" she blushed.  She wasn't used to getting asked for assistance. "No, I think I'll find a book by myself, thanks."

            The man shrugged.  But then, a few seconds after she was walking to another shelf, the librarian whizzed back with a few books in his arms. "Maybe some books on the fantastic creatures of the world, perhaps?  Or how about the history of Hogwarts?  What about Quidditch?  One can never be too interested in that wonderful sport.  Or maybe…something on the dark places of the wizarding world?"

            The last thing interested her. "What about the dark places?"

            A smile spread across the librarian's face.  He bustled past her and took a book from one of the dusty shelves. "Every little witch and wizard is curious about the Forbidden Forest, or Azkaban, even."

            "If they were so curious, then why didn't they take that book out for a while?" Lily asked, a bit suspicious of the fidgety wizard who was eager to have someone take books out.

            She watched him laugh in a pleasant way. "That's because most of them decide to go see it for themselves.  Now, if you ask me, I'd rather take a book out and read about it first before encountering anything…drastic, would you?"

            The Gryffindor did see some wisdom in that.  So, she accepted the book from his outstretched hand.  Unfortunately, before Lily could produce an iota of an opinion of the book, the bell signaling their break was over.  She sighed.  Later, then.  The Evans girl ran towards her next class, her newly borrowed book at her side.  Left in the library, the man hummed to himself. "Well, there's an interested child.  Days like these, I can't get too many people to take interesting books out…"

***

            The old Transfiguration classroom was cleaned up of its usual mess of books, parchment, and ink all over the place.  Professor Lobiesk made sure the area was cleanly enough for her oncoming Charms students.  Her colleague Transfiguration teacher had seen no use for the room, as she found one suitable to her tastes elsewhere, and so the room became a Charms classroom.

James entered the room and was pushed onto a seat.  The professor looked up from her book and frowned. "Already here?  My, my, what an early bird.  Well, then, since you're here now, why don't you flip your book to the chapter about the Sonorus Charm?  Very useful, especially when you're interested in being the Quidditch play-by-play announcer.  You do like Quidditch, right?"

            "Yes, but I'd rather not be an announcer," he replied bluntly.

            "Oh?" the Charms professor put her book down and smiled, interested in her student's answer, "Why not?"

            "I'd rather play than stay there watching."

            She chuckled. "What an answer!  And you do know there are only seven Quidditch positions in each house, right?  And there are definitely many of you who want that kind of ambition."

            James shrugged. "You can't really tell, now can you?  I'm just a first year."

            "Right, then," his professor nodded, "But we shan't be discouraged, now shall we?"

The Gryffindor student shrugged and didn't answer.  Instead, he got up and roamed the room, looking at the portraits on the wall.  He supposed all the portraits were those of the past Transfiguration teachers.  The current Headmaster's portrait was on the far right.  James pointed at it and turned to his professor. "Is that Professor Dumbledore?"

"Hmm?" she looked up again. "Oh, yes, that is.  Excellent man, Albus Dumbledore.  Had him as my Transfiguration teacher when I was in school, two years ago.  Very inspiring wizard.  Too bad he couldn't quench the thirst of all ambitious wizards when he taught here…"

"Do you mean Voldemort?" the young man asked, now more interested than ever.

His teacher was hushed into silence.  After a few minutes' hesitation, she answered him with, "He is definitely an example of one wizard gone bad, but I can't tell you more.  After all, he came here before my time."

"But…professor," James was now in full attention, "There have been rumors that he's gaining followers to preach his cause.  What on earth do you think it is?"

At this, his teacher paled slightly, but quickly regained senses.  She smiled at him. "That's better left unsaid to unsuspecting students.  You shouldn't be concerned with him at the moment.  Hogwarts is a school for witchcraft and wizardry, not for worrying the young with something they can't even take care of as they are presently."

To the professor's relief, she heard footsteps and laughter in the hall. "Well, bless my soul!  I hear voices already!  How time flies when you've got something interesting to do and say!"

            The professor stood up, ready to welcome her students, brushing her past conversation with the young boy away. "Hello, please take your seats.  We will begin the lesson immediately."

            James glimpsed red hair bob up and down.  It seemed Lily was eager to start her next class.  The professor seemed nice, and she wasn't very strict either.  When Peter and Sarah came in late (after spending some time getting to know a few more students in the Great Hall), the professor gave a slight frown, but didn't deduct any points.  Instead, she pointed her wand at two chairs in front of the classroom and told them to sit there. "I would hate to find out you will be late again the next time."

            In the middle of discussing a voice-changing charm, the professor nodded towards Melanie's raised hand, and her eyes widened. "Miss Melanie Belle, is it?  How interesting…you don't happen to be related to the Belle Brothers, are you?"

            "Um…" the girl blushed. "I'm their sister, Professor Lobiesk."

            "Splendid!" her eyes twinkled. "Another of your line!"

            Sirius scoffed from the back, apparently bored.  He wasn't used to having someone become a favorite of any professor.  That was probably why he liked his Potions class the most, so far anyway.  He wondered when the class would be over.  When Professor Lobiesk continued on with the lesson and told them of the chapters they were required to read that night, Sirius groaned.  First day in school, and already the teachers were being merciless.

***

            That evening, Sarah gazed with wonder at Sirius' eagerness in gulping down all his food. "How could you eat so much?"

            "Don't interrupt him," James told her, informatively, "Food for him is a means of reflection.  Interruption may cause damage to his thinking process."

            Sarah rolled her eyes at her friend. "Honestly, James.  You have something to say for everything, don't you?"

            "I'm disappointed you don't know that by now," her friend answered, acting hurt, "And we've been friends for how long?"

            "Boy, will my Mum be disappointed that I didn't make it in Ravenclaw," someone said near them.  When Sarah turned, he saw Melanie talking to Remus and Lily.

            Lily tilted her head, her usual way of asking important questions. "But, why would they care so much?  Is it bad to be put in a different house like Gryffindor?"

            "No," Remus responded. "I, for one, am relieved that I made it into Gryffindor rather than Hufflepuff or Slytherin.  I guess it's preference in the family's side, considering the fact that all of them but Melanie managed to be in Ravenclaw.  For you, Lily, you didn't seem to care, and the Sorting Hat must have placed you wherever you best belonged in."

            Melanie nodded.  She sighed a bit sadly, "It does get lonely if your brothers aren't in the common room with you…but I guess I can cope…"

            "Maybe it was for the best," Sarah piped up, always the optimistic type. "Perhaps fate wanted you in this house instead?"

            The half-French witch gazed at the blonde.  After a few seconds, she smiled warmly. "Perhaps you're right."

            Sirius finally slurped his food down and whispered grudgingly to James. "She should have been placed in Ravenclaw.  At least we wouldn't be seeing her everyday in every class…"

            "Hush, Sirius," James told him, "That wasn't very nice.  Besides, what's your attitude against rich people anyway?"

            "Nothing…" he answered, grunting, "Most of them just haven't left a good impression on me, that's all."

            Peter shook his head, "And that's where you're going to make enemies, Sirius.  Pride and prejudice never brings out the good in people. "

            "Better enemies than infatuated stalkers, right?" Sirius grinned, then began to gulp down some more food.  It was no use persuading him.  He'd have to see for himself what those rich snobs can do.  After all, his mother did teach him not to judge a book by its cover, unless of course the cover was inlaid with gold.  _That is certainly the time to be suspicious of things, _was what Sirius' mother had said to him.


	4. Encounters With Slytherin

Chapter 4: Encounters with Slytherin 

            It took a week or two for the first years to cope up with the schedule.  Sirius had finally stopped complaining about homework, and he even apologized to Lily for accidentally burning one of her parchments.  Lily had been infuriated and wouldn't speak to the young boy until he had apologized, which he refused to do until James egged him to appease the red-head.

            "Fine," the red head had told Sirius that day, "I forgive you.  Now, if you please, I'd rather get back to my studying than dawdling about here."

            James shrugged the homework off.  Instead, he was amusing himself with his Snitch, letting it go and catching it after a few minutes.  He even went so far as to release it in the library, and Professor Kismet (who was going through a shelf of books when suddenly she was hit in the face with a winged ball) had swooped down on him and confiscated the golden object.  If the librarian hadn't intervened, the professor would never have given back James' snitch.

            Melanie and Lily were usually found drowning in a tower of books at the library.  Occasionally Remus would join them on some days.  However, he was most often found in the company of James Potter and the reluctant Sirius Black.  It seemed Remus enjoyed the fact that Sirius and James didn't make fun of him for his paleness and ruggedness.  That in itself was something the young boy treasured most.

            Now if ever there was a Hogwarts "Congeniality" Award for First Years, the award would most probably go to Peter Pettigrew and Sarah Morran.  Most of their time was spent on befriending and taking part in inter-house relations.  While some recoiled from their overfriendliness, others welcomed it and accepted them as honorary members of their house.  However, there was one particular group that took pleasure in shunning others and sticking to the pack.  It was when Sarah decided to approach them that the Gryffindor first year knew of the existence of Lucius Malfoy.

            It was Saturday, and Sarah had suggested to Peter that they should head on over to the Slytherin table and strike up a conversation.  Peter, knowledgeable about the Wizarding World, looked at her as if she was a patient in St. Mungo's Insanity ward.  He knew some of the older people in the Slytherin table, and he definitely did not want a part of any of their discussion. "Are you crazy?  Everybody knows the Slytherins love nobody but themselves!"

            "Come on, it can't be that bad," Sarah said brightly, "There has to be at least one friendly Slytherin."

            "Oh yeah?  Name me one."

            "How should I know?"

            "See?  This is madness, I tell you."

            "Don't be ridiculous, Peter," the blonde frowned at him, "You won't really know unless you've actually met them, right?  Come on!"

            And so, much to Peter's chagrin, he was being pulled towards the Slytherin table, Sarah taking the lead.  A few students were gathered about, huddled together and laughing at something at the middle of the table.  The Great Hall wasn't filled with many people that time of day, most were out to Hogsmeade or just roaming the castle courtyards.  So, it wouldn't be surprising if trouble was to start.  Sirius stooped over to James and Remus as he watched Sarah and Peter get closer to the huddled mass of green robes. "Get ready for a brawl.  Your friend is about to start one with Slytherin."

            "Sarah only wants to make acquaintances," Remus interjected. "I don't see how that would cause her much trouble."

            James shook his head, "Well, mate, you don't know Slytherin all that well.  There's this tradition we have with them.  We hate them, vice versa."

            The pale boy argued back, "Yeah, but some traditions can't always be followed.  Surely at least one Slytherin student hasn't gone bad."

            "Perhaps," Sirius muttered uneasily.  The talk of Slytherin house made him uncomfortable, and the two dropped their conversation.  Instead, they watched with fascination at the event that would happen once Sarah reached the table.

            One of the older students, most probably the ringleader of the group, saw the incoming blonde and looked at her with disgust.  James bristled at the Slytherin's reaction.  One thing he hated seeing was hostility against his friends, and Sarah was a dear friend.

Peter developed a nervous twitch as Sarah calmly sat down and attempted to start a conversation.  The older student continued to frown at her, but the girl was not looking at him.  In fact, she had glanced at each of the students in the group, and she realized that they were all glaring menacingly at her.  That didn't put her out, however.  Sarah cracked a forced smile and introduced herself along with her companion.

The ringleader didn't answer at first, then finally gave them an amused smirk. "I suppose now you want us to warm up to you and allow you to be a part of us, eh?"

"Er…no, we're not—"

"Perhaps you couldn't tell that we were in the middle of something important?" the older student continued on, sneering at the first years, "Didn't your parents teach you _not_ to nose about into something?"

"We weren't nosing about—"

"Then why on earth would you want to get into this conversation, hmm?"

"We were just—"

Sarah tried to mumble answers back, but the Slytherin questioning her was enjoying himself by intimidating the poor girl. "Well, if your stupid parents didn't teach you any manners, maybe you'd like it if my two friends here would?  Crabbe, Goyle, go _teach_ these kids not to interrupt on our conversations."

Two chunky students beside him cracked their knuckles and chuckled.  Peter, who was sitting silently behind Sarah, broke into a sweat and quickly backed away, pulling his friend's sleeve.  Sarah frowned and recovered from her initial surprise of hostility. "Okay, I can see we're not wanted.  Don't bother with the manners, I believe I've learned enough to keep myself from cursing you, thank you very much."

"Oh, but we insist," the student replied, his smile turning into a frown.  He didn't like being insulted back, not one bit.  The two he called "Crabbe" and "Goyle" approached closer until they made a circle around Sarah, who firmly stood her ground.  Peter had already run back to the safety of the Gryffindor table.  James, at this point infuriated that his friend was treated horribly, had sprung off his seat, stalking towards where Sarah was encircled.  Sirius held him back, hissing that defending her was not the right decision.  They were only first years after all.

The two Slytherins moved ever more closely towards Sarah, pounding their fists with pleasure.  It was not going to be a pretty sight.

"Oy!  Lucius!  I better not be witnessing another of your antics!" a voice cried out from Sarah's right. "You mangy git, tell your minions to back off the girl, now!"

The Slytherin glared at the blue-robed speaker. "What makes you _my_ boss, Jon?  If I do recall, I'm as much of an equal as you."

Jon, the one who had commanded the Slytherin to stop, gave Lucius a frosty smile, "On the contrary, I'm a year your senior, Lucius, and I've got more respect as a prefect that way.  So I suggest you stop this now, or there will be consequences," he was pointing at the Slytherin hourglass.

Lucius signaled for his two cronies to desist in their advance. "You're lucky she's not worth my time.  Come on, everyone, best finish our conversation in our common room, where we aren't interrupted by nosy Gryffindors."

The raven-haired boy in blue robes continued to smile at the Slytherin ringleader until his train disappeared into another room.  On their absence from the Great Hall, he looked back at Sarah with a more serious tone. "Mind you, don't get too near Lucius Malfoy.  He tends to be very hostile to people not in his house."

"I can see that," Sarah was shaking her head, and smiled at the older boy, "but thank you for your help."

The prefect nodded and escorted her back to her table, the gentleman he was.  James was still fuming, but Sirius had forced him down before he did anything rash against Lucius and his group.  Sirius noticed the prefect badge embroidered with the Ravenclaw crest on the boy's robes.  He frowned.  The prefect looked familiar…and he didn't know why.

Remus smiled at the prefect. "Thank you er…"

"Jonathan," the young man said, "Jonathan Belle.  I believe you know my sister."

"Aha!" Sirius cried out to practically nobody, "I knew it!"

Blue eyes stared at Sirius curiously, "Knew what?"

"Ah…eh…nothing," he muttered back, turning a light shade of red.

Jon shrugged and turned when he heard his name being called from his table. "I'll be right there!"  He gave the first years another handsome smile and apologized for him leaving them. "I best be running off now, guys.  Just remember not to get into too much trouble."

Peter was glaring at Sarah the whole time. "See?  What did I try to tell you?!"

"Hey, at least we know we tried," Sarah said stubbornly, "It didn't hurt to give your best shot at being friendly."

"Ha!  You were on the verge of getting hurt!"

Green eyes were glaring at Peter, "Well, I recall you not bothering to back me up when I was in dire need of it!"

Remus interrupted the altercation by stating something positive. "Jonathan didn't seem like a bad guy, and neither is Melanie.  You could tell they're siblings."

"Well, at least he had the decency to call us guys instead of kids," was Sirius' reply.

"Who had the decency?" a blue eyed girl asked when she heard Sirius murmur.

Melanie and Lily were standing behind the assemblage of first years, piles of books in their hands.  The red head sighed and dumped the books next to Sirius, who looked on with amazement. "Um…Lily, what on earth are you doing, exactly?"

She stared at him, irritated, "What else?  Work!"

"But…aren't you going a bit too overboard?" Sirius was incredulous.

Lily's friend smiled, "It's nice to be able to start work as early as possible, with as much information on the subject as you can get."

Sarah looked at them as skeptically as the others did, "You guys have gone off your rocker, did you know that?"

They heard James chuckle.  His brown eyes gleamed with amusement. "I've never seen anyone so dedicated to schoolwork!"

"You haven't seen them all, mister," Lily retorted.

"Well, that's true."

Peter waved his hand, "Please change the subject, this talk of homework is giving me a headache."

Sirius was still puzzled as to why on earth the two girls were intent on doing so much work for their classes.  He had spoken his opinion to the boys as they climbed to their dorm room. "What's the point of relaxing in the weekends then?  It's fun to take a break from work especially when you just got off of a week of class.  Then, after you've procrastinated, you rush to do your homework at the last minute.  And then, after that, you relax again.  It's a whole circular process of relaxing and procrastinating.  I mean, I'd rather do as little amount of work as possible to achieve the grade I want, wouldn't you?"

James was touched. "That…was beautiful.  Sirius, I think you and I will develop a wonderful friendship together…"

"And I think Remus and I should leave you two to plan your wedding," Peter suggested.

Remus heard Sirius yelling at Peter with disgust, but could not make out the words.  He glanced out a window near the entrance of their dorm room and stared at the moon, mesmerized by it.  The young Gryffindor didn't hear James calling out to him, he had other things on his mind.  James had to pat the pale boy on the back to get his attention. "Remus.  Are you okay?"

"Ah…yes, sorry, I was a bit preoccupied," Remus answered.

Peter nudged him, "What?  Don't tell me you were thinking on doing work, too?"

The boy chuckled, "No, there's no point in that, I've managed to finish it all this afternoon.  Some of the subjects here are pretty interesting, so I couldn't help getting all my work done beforehand."

Sirius trailed behind.  He was watching Remus' gaze and looked up at the moon as well.  The boy glimpsed the moon in the last day before its full beauty will shine tomorrow night.  He wondered what held Remus' thoughts toward it, but shrugged it off, preferring to keep his nose clean through such matters.

James waved his arm to Sirius. "Are you coming up or what?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Sirius told them and hurriedly went to his friends.

***

Relations with the Slytherins worsened after Sarah's daring nerve to stand up to them.  Two days after the small incident, people already knew of the first year who went up to Lucius Malfoy.  The situation worsened when the Gryffindors came in for their double potions class with Slytherin on Tuesday.

James was carefully cutting up his millipede in sections for the Allergy potion they were assigned to make.  It wasn't a very nice experience for Lily, who didn't want to think about the poor creature at all.  She got even more uncomfortable when Professor Dunbar instructed them to dump their ingredients into their boiling pewter cauldrons.  Lily watched sadly as her ingredients floated about the cauldron, simmering and turning into a light shade of purple.  Peter leaned in next to her. "What's wrong, Lily?"

"The poor millipede, it never had the chance…"

Sirius snorted and accidentally cut apart his pollen shrooms. "Argh…kripes, look what you did!  Egh…why are you mourning for a useless insect anyway?"

Sarah was giggling, amused.  _There they go again, bickering like a brother and sister would._  After her meeting with Slytherin, Sarah was careful not to get too close to their side of the room.  She was a bit uncomfortable when their potions class had double periods with the Slytherins.  The thing Sarah did notice was that the Gryffindors took one side of the room while the other house took the other.  There was a split in the middle, and those Gryffindors and Slytherins sitting there were at the opposite ends of the table.

"Hey, Sarah," Samuel, a Gryffindor student, whispered, "There's a guy staring at you from over there.  Why is he doing that?"

A Slytherin student was frowning at Sarah, who turned and noticed him.  She recognized the student to be Snape, the one who had gone into her compartment to tell her friends about arriving into Hogwarts.  The blonde tilted her head and tried to find out why Snape was glaring at her so.  It was very unnerving to have someone stare at you especially when you can feel their gaze.

Before she could think of a solution to keep her staring "friend" from continuing with what he was doing, a loud "BAM!" exploded into the air behind her.  The Slytherins were snickering uncontrollably.  Professor Dunbar waved his wand and cleared the greenish-purple smoke to find young Sirius Black on the floor, holding a broken flask in his hands.  Sirius was frowning, "Dang shrooms…I knew I should have cut them evenly…"

Professor Dunbar had his hands on his chest as he glowered at the poor young student. "What is the meaning of this, Mr. Black?"

Again, the Slytherin kids snickered, which causes James and Sirius to glare in their direction.  Melanie bent over and examined the flask, a thoughtful expression on her face.  Lily wondered as well about the incident, but she couldn't put a finger on it.  Suddenly, Sirius began to sneeze.  It was a loud, grating sneeze that continued on a few more times.  Before they knew it, the people near the explosion also started wheezing, drivel coming out of their noses.  It was an allergic frenzy which resulted in the chortling of laughter from the Slytherin students.  It seems out of the rest of the group, the furthest away managed to stay safe.  Among them were Melanie, Sarah, and James, who were unaffected.

The whole lesson was disrupted, as the professor had no choice but to force everyone to clean up the mess.  Some of the Slytherins continued to snigger under their breaths, unable to control themselves when a sneeze retched into the air.

***

            "I can't believe he gave me a detention!" Sirius exclaimed after a few wheezing sneezes. "It was all… (ACHOO!) Lily's fault!"

            Lily glared at him and sneezed. "Look here, you should have been paying attention…ack!"

            James was beyond himself.  He wanted to laugh at them, but then he distinctly remembered that he had been given a detention as well.  This was what he got for trying to dissuade Professor Dunbar from giving Sirius one. "But professor, it was an accident, he really didn't mean to be so careless…"

            "Mr. Potter, if you would please, I would like your friend to pay the consequences of being _careless_ in my class," was Professor Dunbar's icy reply.

            "But professor…"

            "Potter!  Black!  Detention!"

            James winced at that bit of memory.

            "If you ask me," Peter said after blowing his nose, "I think the Slytherin students had something to do with this."

            "I think you're right, Peter," Melanie said quietly, "That flask was made so that it couldn't hold in an allergy potion.  Sirius, do you remember who put it on the table before we began with our experiments?"

            Sirius thought for a second and opened his mouth for another sneeze. "Well…at least we know my allergy potion works.  I don't recall anyone putting it on my table…I grabbed it from the shelf near the Slytherin side.  That's where all our flasks came fro…"

            A slight dawning of understanding came to him like a bolt of lightning when he remembered that there were students who slightly giggled when Sirius reached for the flask.  Was it planted earlier by one of them?

            Brown eyes behind round spectacles lit up. "Yeah…could someone have tampered with the flask?"

            "Why, that…" Sirius began, but was stopped by another attack of continuous sneezes. "Argh!  I give up!  Doesn't anybody know a spell to stop this?"

            "If I did, don't you think I'd have gone out of this mess by now?" retorted Lily, breathing heavily. "I think the allergy only lasts for a few hours or so.  We're just… (ACHOO!) going to have… (ACHOO!) to wait it out."

            Sirius and Peter groaned.  Sarah giggled and turned to say something, when a thought struck her. "Hey, have you seen Remus?"

            "That's odd…" James frowned, "I didn't see him anywhere today."

            Lily sighed and sniffled. "He must be feeling off the weather.  Someone should get his books to him, so he doesn't miss any work."

            "Trust me, Lily, Remus can take care of himself when it comes to homework," James said, smiling. "The boy's a smart one."

            A conversation could no longer be held since Sirius, Lily, and Peter all simultaneously sneezed multiple times.  James couldn't take it anymore, he burst into laughter.


End file.
